Canadian Warplanes (1) British Columbia, Sidney, British Columbia Aviation Museum

Warplanes in British Columbia, Sidney,

British ColumbiaAviationMuseum

The aim of this website is to locate, identify and document every historical Warplane preserved in Canada. Many contributors have assisted in the hunt for these aircraft to provide and update the data on this website. Photos are by the author unless otherwise credited. Any errors found here are by the author, and any additions, corrections or amendments to this list of Warplanes in Canada would be most welcome and may be e-mailed to the author athskaarup@rogers.com.

Data current to 29 Aug 2019.

Sidney, British ColumbiaAviationMuseum (BCAM)

(Author Photos, 28 Jan 2019)

Aerospatiale Alouette III helicopter, Reg. No. C-FCAX, in Canadian Coast Guard colours. C-FCAX was manufactured by Aerospatiale in Marignane, France in July, 1966. During 1967 it was delivered to the Canadian Coast Guard in Victoria, B.C. and served the Guard for 20 years. In 1987 the aircraft was donated to the B.C. Institute of Technology for student training. It was subsequently donated to the Steveston-London Secondary School. In May, 2016 the Alouette was generously donated to the Museum and has returned to the community in which served so many years.

(Wiltshirespotter Photo)

(Mike Kaehler Photos)

(Author Photos, 28 Jan 2019)

Auster AOP 6, RCAF (Serial No. 16662), Air Observation Post, Reg. No. C-FXNF, alongside a 25-pounder Field Gun, This post-war Auster is equipped with an in-line 4 cylinder deHavilland engine rather than an American flat four, and had trailing flaps added. Thirty six AOP 6s were bought by the RCAF and the Army Air Corps, and they served with distinction in the Korean War. All were retired by 1958. The Museum’s Auster was built in 1947 and served with No. 444 Squadron and the Joint Training School. After a period in storage it was sold commercially in 1969, and flew for twelve years before going back into storage. It was acquired by the Museum in May 2000, and subsequently has been completely overhauled under Transport Canada supervision. It has been repainted in the Joint Training School’s colours and markings.

(Author Photos, 28 Jan 2019)

25-pounder Field Gun.

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Antonov An-2 Colt biplane, Reg. No. N73AN.

Avro 652A Anson Mk. I (Serial No. 6518), RAF (Serial No. K8786).

Avro 652A Anson Mk. II, RCAF (Serial No. 7359). (RCAF Photo)

(Author Photos, 28 Jan 2019)

Avro 652A Anson Mk. II (Serial No. FP846).

(Author Photo)

Avro 683 Lancaster Mk. X (Serial No. FM104), mounted on a pylon on the Toronto waterfront before being taken down for restoration.

(Author Photos)

Avro 683 Lancaster Mk. X (Serial No. FM104), undergoing restoration in the Canada Air and Space Museum, Toronto, Ontario. FM104 has been transferred by the Toronto City Council to the British Columbia Aviation Museum, Sidney, Vancouver Island, British Columbia.

(Author Photos, 28 Jan 2019)

Avro Lancaster Mk. X (Serial No. FM104), being restored in the British Columbia Aviation Museum. FM104 was built in Toronto in 1944 but did not see combat service after arriving in the United Kingdom in January 1945. In June 1945 the aircraft returned to Canada and subsequently was converted for use in coastal surveillance and search and rescue. It served in that capacity for many years until retired in 1966. The aircraft then spent more than three decades on display at the Toronto lake shore. Restoration work on the aircraft was commenced by the Canadian Air & Space Museum in 1999 but that organization was unable to continue the work after they lost their hangar space to redevelopment. The BC Aviation Museum was awarded custody of the disassembled aircraft in the late summer of 2018.

Bell Model 47D Helicopter (Serial No. 71), CF-FZX. This was the first commercial helicopter to be operated in BC in 1948. It originally had an open cockpit, an enclosed tail boom, and a wheeled undercarriage. An upgrading to 47D standards saw a bubble canopy added, the tail boom uncovered, a tail rotor guard called a "harp" added, plus a skid undercarriage. CF-FZX is owned by the Royal British Columbia Museum and is on long-term loan to the BCAM.

C-FBMS entered service with Conair of Abbotsford BC in the spring of 1970. It completed over 2,000 hours of duty in its new role, until its last operational flight in 1984. Conair is a world leader in aerial fire-fighting, and generously donated the aircraft to the Museum in 1989. It was decided to keep it in its fire-fighting configuration.

Republic RC-3 Seabee, (Serial No. 710), Reg. No. C-FJLC, built in 1947. It was originally the personal aircraft of the Manager of Alaska Coast Airlines, but was subsequently purchased by Norie Brothers Logging. Henry and Frank Norie donated it to the Museum in 1991.

(Author Photo, 28 Jan 2019)

RotorWay Scorpion II helicopter. Built in 1973, this Scorpion II has a 115 hp Evinrude outboard engine providing enough power to lift two small people.

Vickers Viscount 757, CF-THG, C/N 224. The Viscount was the most successful British commercial airliner of all time. It was the world’s first turboprop powered airliner, and the prototype flew in July 1948. The larger and more developed production airliner obtained its Certificate of Airworthiness and entered service in April 1953. Trans Canada Airlines (TCA) started operations with the first of fifty-one that it purchased in early 1955. The BCAM's Viscount was delivered to TCA in 1957 and served until 1974. It was then owned briefly by Harrison Airways. It was subsequently used by the British Columbia Institute of Technology as an instructional airframe at Vancouver International Airport, before being acquired by the BCAM. Recovery was relatively straightforward, with the aircraft being carried by barge from Vancouver International to the seaplane ramp at Patricia Bay.

(Author Photo, 28 Jan 2019)

Fire Truck.

Engines

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Avro Canada Orenda 11 jet engine. Avro Canada was set up in 1946, and the Engine Division soon set about developing gas turbine aircraft engines. A small axial turbojet was built, which provided experience to design and build the “Orenda”, which first ran in 1949. Numerous versions were developed through to the Mk. 14. These engines powered the Avro CF-100 all-weather fighter and the Canadair CL-13 Sabre Mk. 5 and Mk. 6. The BCAMès example is a 7,300 lb.s.t (3,311 kg) Orenda 11. It proved to be a very successful engine at a time when axial flow turbojets were quite troublesome.

Allison V-1710, liquid cooled V-12 of the late 1930s. The Allison had a typical rating of 1,475 hp and weighed 1,595 lb. It was rugged and reliable but its high altitude performance suffered for the lack of a good super-charger. It was fitted in the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Bell P-39 Airacobra, and the Curtis P-40 Kittyhawk. Many RCAF Kittyhawks were flown by the RCAF at Patricia Bay.

Anzani 3-cylinder 35hp radial engine designed in France, built in the USA.

Bristol Type 734 Hercules 14 cylinder, two-row, sleeve-valve radial engine. First built by Bristol in England in the late 1930s, initial examples were rated at 1,250 hp. The Hercules remained in production until the 1950s by which time the compnay had power had increased its power to slightly over 2,020 hp. The Hercules was one of the most significant British military engines of the Second World War, and was produced in large numbers for the Bristol Beaufighter, the Handley Page Halifax, the Short Stirling, the Vickers Wellington and a few of the early model Avro Lancasters. It was also used in civilian aircraft after the War, and the BCAM's example is a 2,020 hp variant from a Bristol Freighter.

de Havilland Gipsy 1 British four cylinder in-line air cooled engine, in production from 1928 until 1934. It offered 90 hp and weighed 285 lb, and powered the de Havilland Moth, Avro Avian and the Curtis-Read Rambler.

de Havilland Gipsy Major. The Gipsy 1 had a low thrust line which posed a clearance problem for airframe designers, so the Gipsy Majo” of 1932 was inverted to offer more clearance for the propeller. The basic layout was unchanged. It is a four cylinder, in-line engine with the power rating raised to 130 - 145 hp for 305 lb weight. The Gipsy Major powered the de Havilland Tiger Moth.

Franklin Model 4AC, a small air-cooled flat fours engine with 90 hp. It was used to power the Stinson Voyager as well as the Bell 47 light helicopter and the Republic Seabee amphibian.

Jacobs L4 MB seven cylinder radial, first run in 1934, and in production for 40 years. It offered between 200 and 350 hp in its various versions, with a typical weight of 465 lbs. It proved to be a rugged and reliable engine for trainers and light transports, powering the Avro Ansons and Cessna Cranes of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan.

Pratt & Whitney R-985 Wasp Jr., capable of delivering 425 hp for a weight of just under 650 lb. A family of “Wasp” engines was developed, and examples in the BCAM can be seen in the Noorduyn Norseman and the North American Harvard.

Rolls Royce (Packard) Merlin Mk. 29 V-12 liquid cooled engine, used to power a significant number of Allied combat aircraft, including the Supermarine Spitfire, the de Havilland Mosquito, the Avro Lancaster and the North American Mustang. Developments ranged from the Mk. 1 to the Mk. 71, and over 155,000 were built. The BCAM's Merlin Mk. 29, was built by Packard, but intended for a Canadian-built Hawker Hurricane.

Wright Cyclone 9, R-1820 American nine-cylinder radial originating in 1931. Its original rating was 575 hp, but it remained in production until the 1950s by which time the power rating had climbed to 1,525hp. It powered the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress, the Douglas DC-3 and C-47 Dakota, the North American T-28B Trojan, and the Grumman Tracker. The BCAM has two examples.

(Author Photo, 28 Jan 2019)

Wright Cyclone 18, R-3350-24WA two-row development of the Cyclone 9 radial engine. It is an 18 cylinder engine and was usually supercharged. It was first run in 1937 and remained in production into the 1950s. The engine developed 2,500 hp, and was used to power the Boeing B-29 Super Fortress, the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar, the Lockheed C-121 Constellation, and the Douglas A-1 Skyraider. The BCAM's example is a time-expired engine from a Martin Mars flying boat, donated by Forest Industries Flying Tankers.

Ranger Aviation L-440-3 American six-cylinder, in-line air cooled engine with 200 hp. It powered the Fairchild PT-19 and PT-26 Cornell trainers which were flown at Patricia Bay during the Second World War, as well as the Grumman Widgeon amphibians.

Rolls Royce Nene Mk. 1 jet engine, with 5,000 lb.s.t. It was (briefly) the most powerful engine in the world. The engine is used in the Canadair CT-133 Silver Star.

Museum Artifacts

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Japanese Balloon Bomb.

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Searchlight.

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RCAF Patricia Bay Memorial in front of the BCAM.

No. 15 Squadron (Fighter) Squadron (Auxiliary) was renumbered as No. 115 Squadron in Nov 1937. Members of the unit were called out on voluntary full-time duty in September, 1939. As a result, the squadron was disbanded at Montreal and its personnel taken on strength with the already existing No. 1 (Fighter) Squadron at Dartmouth, Nova Scotia on 26 May 1940. They were enroute to the United Kingdom between 9 and 20 June, and arrived at RAF Station Middle Wallop, Hampshire in the UK on the 21 June where they served as part of No. 11 Group RAF Fighter Command (1 Group Z sector at RAF Northolt with 303). The squadron reformed as No. 115 (F) Squadron at RCAF Station Rockcliffe on 1 Aug 1941. It was redesignated as No. 115 (Bomber Reconnaissance) Squadron at Annette Island, Alaska on 22 June 1942. The squadron was posted to RCAF Station Patricia Bay twice, on 15 Oct 1941 to 25 Apr 1942, and then again from 21 Aug 1943 to 16 Mar 1944.